My OCZ experience...

[Riptide]

Is hopefully not typical. I just replaced my Corsair PC2700 XMS with a set OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel Platinum. Ofcourse, I have run into problems. Allow me to explain please.

1) First of all, RAS to CAS *MUST* be set to 3. Trying highly aggressive timings (2-2-2-5) results in a system that won't POST. Keep in mind I'm actually UNDERclocking this memory so I was kinda hoping that it would work at these timings. No luck there. Moving on...

2) At the rated timings, 2-2-3-5, the system crashes to the desktop when running 3dmark2001. I can't even get it to run 5 repetitions without crashing. This is the most infuriating problem so far seeing as the memory is still basically underclocked and shouldn't even be stretching it's legs. Yet it's crashing to the desktop...

3) Apparently, tighter timings don't give you much of a performance increase. I was able to get Sandra memory test and also pcmark2002 to finish. The results were at best 1-2% faster than my previous memory. The previous PC2700 XMS was running 2-3-3-7.

No doubt that putting an 800mhz FSB processor under the hood will give me a much bigger performance boost. I expected that much. But given the stability problem and also the pathetic increase in performance with these tighter timings I'm not so sure what to think now. Perhaps this was a huge mistake? At least my system was stable with the Corsair.

[MoonWizard]

Try pm:ing oczguy he works for OCZ and can probably help you...

[Riptide]

Thanks wizard. I'll make sure to PM him if my problems continue. Not sure why, but my system was able to complete the 3dmark2001 benchmark this time without crashing. Perhaps this memory needs to be burned in? I'll be doing some more testing with it over the weekend to determine if it's stable or not.

As far as getting a real performance increase from this stuff I suppose I'll have to wait until I get a new 800mhz FSB processor. I just figured with tighter timings it'd do better but it hasn't done diddly squat.

[bigtoe]

Riptide

Many of the newer modules from all the manufacturers need Ras to Cas set at 3 to be stable.Also the nature of the 875 chipset is that Ras to Cas at 3 is more stable.

Running TRAS at 5 is also not a good move unless you have vdimm adjustment on the board.I would suggest you try tras at 6 or even 7 to be sure.

Many of the older modules are more cabable of running tighter timings as older BH6 and BH5 IC's were of very high yield.Out of all my modules here only my OLD TwinMOS BH5 will runn 2-2-2-5 at ddr400 and it needs 2.8Vdimm to do it.

if the modules run 2-2-3-6 i would say they are within spec at 2.5V

[Riptide]

Thanks bigtoe. If I continue to have problems I shall be certain to raise the value from 5 to 6. There are no voltage adjustments in my Intel motherboard's BIOS. If it's necessary to up the DDR voltage (which is what you are referring to?) in order to run with a value of 5 then I will need to replace the motherboard OR wait for the Intel control center utility, due out in a couple months. I will keep this thread up to date with regard to my experience and if I am forced to make any adjustments will report the results.

The specs for the DIMMs say they can run 2-2-3-5. They make no mention of having to up the voltage in order to reach those values. Is this something OCZ should've put in their documentation? Thanks again.

[bigtoe]

It depends on the board..not all board are equal..plus the intel is VERY fast anyway

[Riptide]

For now I have left the timings at 2-2-3-5. I took the system off the 4% burn-in mode (slight overclock). I am going to start a 20 repetition test of 3dmark2001 and see what happens. That should give me a basic idea of stability. If it crashes, I report that here and then try to back the tRAS down to 6 and run it again.

Taking the system off the 4% burn-in setting for now is probably a good idea no?

[oczguy]

oi email me

oczguy@ocztechnology.com

I will absolutely take care of you

[Riptide]

Welp, that didn't take long... It crashed before it even started to run the bench. Went right back to the desktop.

Looks like I'll reboot and back down the tRAS to 6. See if that makes a difference... If not, I'll most definitely ask for your help mr. oczguy.

[oczguy]

Its speced to 2-2-3-5 , the ras to cas on those modules wont run 2 no matter what . The voltage required is JEDEC default 2.6 thats why its not listed

To really help I need to know exactly what board bios settings your using as canterwood chipsets are very sensitive and if you make some incorrect settings it could great affect your stability

[Riptide]

Thankyou for the continued assistance with this. It is appreciated. My settings at the moment are 2-2-3-6. Changing the tRAS value from 5 to 6 seems to have taken care of the stability issues. 3dmark2001 has been running now for almost an hour without crashing which is MUCH better than it was with the tRAS set to 5. I have no idea what the DDR voltage is set to right now since my BIOS will not allow me to modify that setting.

Will it require bumping my DDR voltage up a notch before I can tRAS of 5? Thanks

[Miles]

Hi Riptide,

Have you tried running memtest at those settings?

[Riptide]

No sir, not yet. I don't have my floppy installed at the moment so I've been kinda holding off on that. Instead I've been using 3dmark2001 to test stability with and so far it seems to have worked OK. If there's a problem it generally has crashed on me within moments. Setting that tRAS to 6 has made things much better so far.

I'm just not sure what to think about that... Does that mean that my OCZ is defective or my motherboard is defective? Or is my experience to be expected IF my DDR voltage is @ 2.5? I noticed that the OCZ website lists the memory spec'd at 2.6v.

[CurlySue]

never mind this I just read where you said you cant up the voltage. I missed it.

[TeeDeck]

I'd be interested in knowing what this RAM is suppose to be able to do. I have the identical RAM in a P4P800 and can only do 2,2,3,6. Anything tighter won't work...can't boot at a slight O/C (2.4C @ 2.89GHz). Prime95 runs for 15 minutes on anything higher. I haven't tried 3dmark because I don't value that benchmark.

I'm currently running 2x256, in A1 and B1 slots, BIOS 1008.004